RIAA suing for copying legally purchased CDs to PC

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by Kevy Baby

I will admit to only having skimmed the article, it appears to be the see the same story of wanting to allow file sharing - effectively saying that it is okay for individuals to steal music. And I don't agree with it.

An artist has the right to give away their music if they want. But other artists who want to get paid for their work should get paid for it.

Well, much of the article dealt with the methods the RIAA is using in its suits. While I agree that the RIAA should be allowed to prosecute people who are breaking the law, their use of illegal subpoenas and questionable definitions of who is responsible for the availability of illegal shared files. They've also been prosecuting people who have downloaded copies of music they have legally purchased (e.g., someone who was downloading songs they own CDs for because it was easier than the effort of ripping the CD themselves.

While I have no sympathy for someone who is illegally sharing music that gets caught, the article does raise some troubling questions about the way the RIAA is going about catching people and isn't just a "it's not a big deal to steal music, so they should just leave people alone."